Raam Dev’s Weblog

How does a company as big as ETRADE allow for such content to be displayed on their website? I understand that the content isn’t actually provided by ETRADE but by Briefing.com. But come on — Stock Fall Further? Stocks Fall Further!

I decided to read the whole paragraph underneath the title to see if I could find any more grammar mistakes… and waddya know: “The financial sector continues to weight on the broader market,”.

It really makes me wonder how many people are needed to proofread something that will be seen by so many visitors.

ant
-noun
social insect living in organized colonies;

Ten-ant should therefore mean “many social insects living in organized colonies”, right?

ploy
–noun
1. a maneuver or stratagem, as in conversation, to gain the advantage.

Isn’t it interesting that to employ would mean to gain the advantage over someone and an employee would be someone who is taken advantage of…

The dictionary doesn’t quite define an employee that way, but after breaking up the word, I don’t think I’ll ever think of the word employee the same.

Three days a week I take the train from Lowell to Boston and then ride the Orange and Red line’s to my workplace in Central Square, Cambridge. Recently, I’ve noticed several changes taking place in the MBTA’s subway system. The old system of using tokens (gold colored coins about the size of a nickel) looks like its being replaced with a ticketing system. The method of entry is also changing as instead of three rotating arms you have two plastic panels that swing apart to let you through. To purchase a ticket you need to use one of the unattended machines. You can pay via cash, token, or credit card. After paying the $1.25, the machine ejects a credit card sized white ticket with a magnetic strip. You then walk over to the entry machines and insert the ticket into that machine to let you through.

All of this sounds pretty damn complicated compared to buying a token (or several tokens at a time, as I do) and inserting it into the machine to let you through. Needing to purchase a ticket from the ticket machine takes time, something that is very annoying when the train just pulled up and you need to wait in line to purchase a ticket, even though you’re holding a previously purchased token in your hand. After purchasing the ticket and swiping it through the machine to let you through, what are you supposed to do with the now useless ticket? Most people simply place it on top of the machine after they’ve used it. Some, however, leave use it to litter the subway train. I’d think by now someone in the MBTA would see that they need a trash barrel on the other side of the entry machines, or a way to simply recycle the already used tickets. Yes, I understand that it’s supposed to be your receipt, but if people never got receipts when they purchased tokens, why would care to have a receipt now? And why would the MBTA add all this complication of a ticketing system and create such confusion intentionally? Then today it dawned on me: It’s easier to track people!

Each of the tickets has a date, time, and serial number on them. Who knows what other information is included in the magnetic strip when you purchase a ticket with your credit card! For now, the North Station subway stop still uses the token system, so I purchase all my tokens there and when I’m coming home I pay for a ticket with a token at Central Square. However, I know this is going to change soon because I’ve already seen the preparation starting for the ticketing system to be implemented in North Station as well.

Now I’m usually not the one to put down the use of technology on a daily basis, especially when it can make life easier and more streamlined. There are many advantages to the new ticketing system, some of which will not be seen until future methods of payment are implemented. With an electronic ticketing system, adding new methods of payment is rather easy. The ticketing machines could be modified to accept payment via cell phones, or the entry machines could be setup to accept payment from an RFID card that can be “refilled” online. None of that would be possible with a token based system. In addition, tracking people can be a useful security measure. Sure, it’s an invasion of our privacy, but no more so than someone listening in on our cell phone call on the train, or being allowed to research our criminal (and other) history online.

In addition, statistical data from the electronic machines can be used to improve the subway system. With a token based system, someone could buy 50 tokens, sell them to several friends, and each of the friends could then use the tokens at any MBTA subway entry point. With a ticket based system, you know exactly where the ticket was purchased and then exactly where (and how long after the purchase) it was used.

The transition phase from a token based system to a full fledged ticketing system will take a little while, and there will no doubt be some bumps along the way. What the MBTA really needs to implement, at least in the short term, is a pay-as-you-go card that allows you to access any MBTA subway entry point and only be charged for what you use; perhaps automatically to your credit card. I don’t go into Boston often enough to purchase a monthly pass, so I’m forced to purchase a bunch of tokens and use them as I go. Once the system is entirely moved over to the ticketing method, it will take me considerably more time to commute in the subway; especially if there are lines at the ticket machines.

Iran won’t give up its right to use nuclear technology. I don’t blame them. What gives the United States the right to dictate who is allowed to use a technology that can benefit developing nations? Money and power doesn’t make one human better than another. If technology can be used in a humane way, and for a just cause, then it should be used. The United States acts like a big bully, trying to scare away all those who it feels threatened by. The United States is controlled by money and greed. If the oil companies, and all their wealth were of no importance to the government, and if our government woke up and realized what they’re doing to the world, we’d already be living in a pollution free country. Hybrid cars are becoming a reality not because technology allows it, but because they are advertised as giving people “tax credits”. Politicians can use this to their advantage. Oh, it also helps that the hybrid cars still require, *ahem* gas, so it’s not as if the hybrids are taking money away from the oil companies. Electric cars, and cars that run on alternative fuels are already possible.

Global warming is going to force politicians to face reality. The only problem is it will be too late when they decide to do something about it. One third of Florida will be under water 50 - 60 years from now. London will be under water by the year 2100, only 94 years from now. These are facts. Because of global warming hurricanes are going to become more and more powerful. Already, the past 10 years has seen progressively worse hurricanes, setting historical records every year. Forest fires are the worst they’ve ever been. As the climate changes, storms like these will become so commonplace that much of our time and energy will be put into preventing, or protecting ourselves from these storms and natural disasters. But when will we realize what’s causing all this? When will we realize its us? Al Gore’s new movie An Inconvenient Truth, is an excellent eye opener and explains in plain English what’s going on, and what the future holds. I watched it a few weeks ago with my parents and I highly recommend it.

Everyday that I drive into Boston, I think about alternative forms of energy. We need to figure out how to use what nature provides instead of modifying nature for our own use. This ties into food, believe it or not. The more “refined” our food is the less healthy it is for our bodies. We, as humans, can survive and live a very healthy life eating nothing but what nature provides us. Sure, we might need to use water and fire to steam vegetables or cook rice and beans, but its still natural. It’s still directly from nature, using only natural things in the process of cooking. It’s been scientifically proven that the more refined a food the less healthy it is for our body. And we already know that planet Earth is a living, breathing, biological creature, so why wouldn’t those same scientific studies apply? We were born on Earth, which biologically makes it our mother. The Earth provides us with shelter and food, yet we suck up oil, refine it, and then burn it as gas in cars and factories. We’re killing our mother Earth and we aren’t even giving it a second thought.

So why am I driving a truck that gets 14 miles a gallon? Well, now that I’ve been educated enough to realize what’s happening you can be sure that I’m going do something about it, as soon as possible. Which makes me wonder: Do I really need to own houses (which require a truck to haul stuff around)? Do I really need to travel as much as I do? (I could move to Boston, and ride my bike into work). Or I could wait a few years and get one of these, or something similar.

A few days ago I was contemplating buying a charger for my Nikon D50. I had spent hours searching for it and now that both of my batteries were dead, I had no way of using the camera. I called the local camera stores but the only charger available for my camera cost $250! Twice I had considered buying it, but both times I changed my mind. Something told me not to justify spending that much money, no matter what. So I ordered a compact generic charger on eBay for $35, which included an extra battery and shipping. A few days later I received the charger in the mail. Then today, while in my Lowell office, I stumbled across my original battery charger laying in a heap of wires. Now I have a portable charger to bring with me on trips and a standard charger to leave at home! Intuition?

Last night I checked my bank account online and the check for the lawyer hadn’t cleared my account yet. I thought about putting a stop payment on the check and then calling the lawyer the following day to try and talk him out of making me pay full price for his services. I got as far as clicking on the “Stop Payment on a Check” link where I needed to fill out the information. But then something told me to stop. A vision of what the future consequences of that action might be flashed in my head: maybe the lawyer would get pissed off and tell me [Read more]

Can work make us feel happier? I don’t mean in the literal sense of being happy while you’re working, but rather the psychological effect work has on our experiencing happiness.

I came home tonight, after working 10 hours in Boston and hitting the gym for an 1 hour, and I heard Spanish music coming from an open window across the street. It was one of those slow, sad sounding Spanish songs (whatever that is). I couldn’t see him, but I heard a guy singing his heart with the song. He seemed genuinely happy, as if he was the happiest person on the planet. But I know that guy. He’s a bum. I see him hanging out in front of the house all day, and night. He doesn’t work, or do anything. Maybe he’s collecting welfare, or has a relative who is, but either way, he does nothing all day. I wondered to myself if I would feel just as happy if I was in his place, having nothing to worry about. Then I wondered if maybe the people who actually work, the ones who put themselves into use everyday, who have goals and ambitions, if maybe they are capable of experiencing more happiness than the ones who don’t. Does work, worry, and responsibility teach us to appreciate the simpler things in life even more? A 4 year old child couldn’t possibility be able to appreciate living in a big house or even having a yard to play in, until he grows up and sees how things could have been different.

I’ve seen first hand how experience teaches you to appreciate. After learning how to do basic plumbing, wiring, and construction from my Dad, I started teaching myself and taking on projects (shed / basement) that I never imagined completing myself. After seeing first hand the amount of work, planning, and precision that goes into building something (like the many months my Dad and I spent building the decks, stairs, and kitchen floors at his house last summer), my appreciation for the construction of everything has grown exponentially. The feeling of standing inside my shed, knowing I built it from ground up, carrying every single piece of wood from my truck to that spot, is unexplainable. Suppose I had built a dog house. Would I have the same feeling of appreciation? Of course not.

Experience, it seems, teaches us to appreciate what we have now because we’re capable of understanding how thin a line we’ve walked to get to where we are today.

I sold my entire portfolio today. I wasn’t going to, but after learning two tenants in one of my houses are moving out this Thursday, I took a hard look at my cash position and where it was headed. A third tenant in the same property left a few days ago, leaving three vacant units; an extra $2000 per month I need to come up with to pay the mortgage. One of my other property’s also has a vacant unit that I’m about to put an ad in the paper for; another $800 I need to come up with for that mortgage. Oh, and the first floor tenant at my house, George, hasn’t paid me rent in over 8 months; a total of $8000 worth of rent, all of which came out of my pocket to pay the mortgage. I’m sure you’re beginning to see why I’ve become desperate enough to sell my entire portfolio at a 50% loss. Grrrrrr. You have no idea how hard it was to press those sell buttons, knowing I lost so much. Who knows, maybe the stock market isn’t for me.

It’s said, a penny saved is a penny earned. In today’s terms, that penny is equivocal to a dollar. When we look in our wallet, or purse and see a dollar bill, we treat it with [Read more]

I was reading comments by a user on Slashdot and he was talking about how he lives a very simple life. He carries around very few things and he owns very little, however the things he does own he can do a lot with, such as his single computer, a laptop. It made me start thinking about how much I would like to live a simple life. It made me realize how we accumulate so much stuff because we think we need it, or because we think it will make life easier. Instead of asking ourselves what we could buy to complete a specific task, or to fulfill a specific desire, we should ask ourselves what do we already have that could be used to complete a specific task, or what will we do with the object when our desire for it is gone in a few weeks (or days). I’ve started to ask myself, “Do I see myself using this 6 months from now?”. If not, then maybe buying it is a waste of money, and peace of mind! I’ve saved myself from buying lots of things by simply asking myself that question.

Children will often pick something up in a store and say they want it. They will cry and scream until their parents buy it for them, as if their very life depended on having it. And then, the very next day, if not the very next hour, they will put it down and forget it ever existed. They will loose all interest in it. The sad thing is, most adults grow up and continue the same pointless routine. They see something they want, justify to themselves why they think they need it. Then, after putting down the cash, or the plastic, they add it to their already growing collection of stuff they rarely use, as if they’re in a race for less space, trying to collect as much stuff as possible before their last day on Earth arrives. What a waste. A waste of money, a waste of space, a waste of natural resources, a waste of the peace of mind they never knew they were giving up. And for what? You don’t take any of that stuff with you when you’re gone. So next time you’re about to buy something, ask yourself if you really need it.

I have had music in my life for as long as I can remember. My entire life, even before I was born, I have been surrounded by music. My dad is a musician (even though he’d probably argue otherwise), and he used to play the flute while I was still in my mothers womb. I would listen to music going to sleep, while driving in my dad’s car, everywhere. When I was young, my parents forbid me to listen to “American” music because they did not agree with things in the lyrics. They worried I would be influenced in a negative way by the music. They allowed me to listen to anything instrumental, as well as most music in any language I (or they) did not understand.

My mom would generally listen to classical music in the car and in the retail stores she owned while I was growing up. My dad usually listened to some form of Indian music (that’s India Indian, not Native American Indian, a distinction I feel I must always make clear). I remember when I was about 13 or 14 years old, I bought (or was probably given, I can’t recall) my own cassette player (yes, I had one of those). I bought Indian music tapes, and then Native American Indian tapes, and Inca music with pan flutes (my favorite). [Read more]

Following is a letter I wrote and mailed to the Massachusetts Insurance Complaint Department. It’s a chronological account of the events that occurred between January 24th and February 3rd, 2005. The end result? I received a letter 13 months later (this March) stating that I wasn’t covered, so I was responsible for paying all $16,000 worth of bills. I learned my lesson: read your insurance policies and know what’s covered. And what isn’t. Trust no one, unless it’s in writing. [Read more]